Musical instrument.



. PATENTED NOV. 5, 1907.

W. A. GAY. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED 1330.1,1906.

mmamA/rd 1H $4 I Witnesses:

garded as limited, however, to a construction in which WILLIAM ALFRED GAY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 5, 1907.

Application filed December 1. 1906- Serial No. 345391.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM ALFRED GAY, a citizen 3 of the United States of America, and a resident of the city of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New 1 Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Musical Instruments, of which the following I is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction of musical instruments in which musical notes, preferably consisting of vibrating rods or wires, are caused to emit musical sounds by the impact of elastic striking-fingers.

One object of the invention is to provide the'musical instrument with striking fingers of the simplest and most inexpensive structure, convenient for fingering and effective for setting the musical notes into vibration.

A further object of the invention is to embody in such a musical instrument a series of sound-emitting devices forming a musical scale in conjunction with strik ing fingers having their operated portions conveniently and regularly arranged for playing.

A further object of the invention is to arrange the parts and support them in a construction bearing resemblance to a stringed instrument, and particularly a harp, the whole being sweet sounding, attractive in appearance, easily played and admitting of construction at an exceptionally low cost.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings which forms a part of this application, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a musical instrument embodying my invention, the inclosing case being shaped to resemble a harp, and a portion of the face of the case being broken away. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the instrument. Fig. 3 is a perspective view on a larger scale of one striking-finger and vibrating rod together with a portion of the supporting members of these elements.

In the construction illustrated, there are a series of musical notes I; d e f g a b 0, each of which is a wire tightly fixed at one end in a common base B, the base being suitably ol metal. The invention is not to be rethe base is of metal or to a construction in which the wires are supported at any particular point or at one end only. Furthermore, many other well known sound emitting devices which depend on the vibration of metallic or other solid parts for the emission of musical notes may be substituted without departing from the spirit of the principal features of this invention, which involves primarily a construction wherein l musical harmonies are produced by a succession of i1n pacts against sound emitting devices. These impacts are caused by elastic striking-fingers S S one of which is provided for each musical note or sound emitting deother section 5 of the wire.

vice. The striking-fingers are conveniently lormed of pieces of wire bent at right angles so as to form two sections r s. One section r of each wire lies in one of a series of parallel transverse saw-cuts made in a cleat O which is made fast to the back of the instrument. A short portion t of the end oi this section of the striking- 1 finger is bent at right angles and driven into the cleat.

Staples u Lt secure this section of the wire to the cleat without clamping and preferably in the slot, so that it may be subjected to torsion strain by deflecting the The slots in the cleat are not essential as the striking-finger may be held entirely by the engagement of the point t with the cleat and the staples. The section s of the striking-finger passes within a short distance of the sound emitting device and has its end suitably formed, as by making it into a loop I, for engagement by the finger and to increase the mass so that the striking-finger will strike a sufficient blow to cause a loud and resonant sound. The leverage and mass of this section impart the required resilient quality to the striking-finger. In the embodimont as illustrated, the striking-finger, with the exception of the tips engaged by the fingers of the musician, and the sound emitting devices are wholly inclosed in a case A which adds to the resonance of the instrument. In the face of the case there are a series of openings in a line, one for each striking-finger, through which the striking-fingers project. These openings prevent the player from retracting the striking-fingers far enough to unduly strain them. The front of the case is decorated so as to add to the attractiveness of the instrument. The letters of the scale may be placed above the opening through which the striking-fingers project or the character of the several notes may be indicated in any other suitable way as a guide to the musician. A somewhat enlarged opening 0 may be made in the front of the casing, preferably about over the vibrating portions of the sound emitting devices, so as to permit a greater volume of sound to issue from the instrument and improve the resonance.

In playing, the instrument is held as a harp or lyre is held and the music is produced by gently drawing the tips of the striking-fingers as they are needed toward the person of the player and then suddenly releasing them. As each striking-finger is released the torsional elasticity of the section 1' vibrates the section 8 past its normal position and into contact with the wire in proximity thereto, the strike and rebound thereby producing the desired musical sound. The reaction of the section 3 in vibrating causes the section 1' particularly at the end near the bend to bear hard against the side of the slot or staple at this end so as to cause friction, thereby rapidly damping the vibration of the strikingfinger and preventing it from striking the sound emitting device a second time with one operation by the musician.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination with a sound emitting device, of a striking-finger having a torsion-spring section, and suitable damping means contacting with the torsion-spring section. substantially as described.

2. The combination of a series of sound emitting devices, and a series of striking-fingers each having a torsion-spring section and suitable damping means contacting with the torsion-spring section, substantially as de scribed.

3. The combination with a suitable base, of a vibrating rod fixed at one end in the base, a striking-finger having a torsion-spring section, and suitable damping means contacting with the torsion-spring section, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a suitable base, of a series of vibrating rods fixed to the base, and a corresponding series of striking-fingers operatable by the lingers of the musician and arranged to contact with the vibrating rods, each having a torsion-spring section and suitable damping means contacting with the torsion-spring section, substantially as described.

having a torsionspring section means contacting with the torsion-spring section, and an each having a torsion-spring section and suitable damping means contacting with the to'rsionspring section, and an inclosing case formed to resemble a stringed instrument, substantially as described. 7 r

6. The combination with a suitable base, of a series of vibrating rods fixed to the base, a corresponding series of strikingfingers operatable by the fingers of the musician and arranged to contact with the vibrating rods, each and suitable damping inclosing' case formed to resemble a stringed instrument with openings through which the tips of the strikingfingers may be actuated, substantially as described.

7. In a musical instrument, the combination of aseries of sound emitting devices, of a series of striking-fingers formed of spring wires with looped ends to be operated by the fingers of the musician, and arranged to contact with the sound emitting devices, substantially as described.

- Signed by me at Newark, New Jersey, this 28th day of. November, 1906.

WILLIAM ALFRED GAY.

Witnesses E EVERETT rNIlLLs, CHXS. HoFKnn. 

